1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to a silent damper which is installed by snapping a damper housing over a boss and snapping a detent protrusion on the shaft into a keyhole-shaped aperture. In operation, the damper housing pivots both horizontally and vertically about the boss as the shaft is pulled outwardly. A typical application for such a damper would be for use with an automotive glove box wherein the boss is attached to the glove box instrument panel and the keyhole-shaped aperture is molded into the side of the glove box wall.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the prior art, it is known to use a damper in connection with doors, particularly for gloveboxes in automotive applications. However, these prior art dampers require secondary fasteners to attach to the glovebox and to the dashboard (or other relatively stationary object) of the automobile. These secondary fasteners increase installation cost and have a tendency to rattle. These prior art dampers typically do not adjust for angled applications or dimensional variations and are therefore susceptible to binding. Additionally, these prior art dampers typically do not adjust easily between right and left-hand configurations.
Examples of prior art references in this general field of art and related fields of art include U.S. Pat. No. 5,756,890 entitled xe2x80x9cSnap Mount Throttle Position Sensorxe2x80x9d, issued to Fedison, Jr. on May 26, 1998; U.S. Pat. No. 5,741,007 entitled xe2x80x9cDamper Rotational Latchxe2x80x9d, issued to Witt on Apr. 21, 1998; U.S. Pat. No. 5,622,242 entitled xe2x80x9cShock Absorber, and Shock Absorber, Such as MacPherson Strut, with Decompression Stop Limit Bracketxe2x80x9d, issued to Handke et al. on Apr. 22, 1997; U.S. Pat. No. 5,615,867 entitled xe2x80x9cFluid-Filled Unit of a Cylinder and a Piston Rod, in Particular Gas Springxe2x80x9d, issued to Bauer on Apr. 1, 1997; U.S. Pat. No. 5,398,820 entitled xe2x80x9cDoll-Holder Wall Mountxe2x80x9d, issued to Kiss on Mar. 21, 1995; U.S. Pat. No. 5,104,359 entitled xe2x80x9cTensioner with Reduced Rattlingxe2x80x9d, issued on Apr. 14, 1992 to Shirai et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,781,608 entitled xe2x80x9cBusbar Holder of Plasticxe2x80x9d, issued on Nov. 1, 1988 to Hillmann; U.S. Pat. No. 4,637,747 entitled xe2x80x9cDevice for Mounting a Protective Cap on a Supportxe2x80x9d, issued on Jan. 20, 1987 to Perrin et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,887,961 entitled xe2x80x9cDamping Assemblies for Doors or the Likexe2x80x9d, issued on Jun. 10, 1975 to Saajos.
It is therefore an object of, this invention to provide a damper, for automotive glovebox or similar applications, which can be installed without the need for secondary fasteners.
It is therefore a further object of this invention to provide a damper, for automotive glovebox or similar applications, which has a decreased tendency to rattle.
It is therefore a still further object of this invention to provide a damper, for automotive glovebox or similar applications, which has decreased installation costs.
It is therefore a still further object of this invention to provide a damper, for automotive glovebox or similar applications, which has a decreased tendency for binding.
It is therefore a still further object of this invention to provide a damper, for automotive glovebox or similar applications, which can be easily adjusted from a right-hand part to a left-hand part, and vice versa.
These and other objects are attained by providing a damper with a damper housing and a piston assembly. The damper housing includes a snap-on attachment device formed of a portion of a circle. This attachment device attaches to a cylindrical structure, such as an instrument panel boss, and allows the damper to rotate both horizontally and vertically as the shaft of the piston assembly is pulled outwardly.
The shaft of the piston assembly further includes a detent protrusion which is snapped into a keyhole-shaped aperture which is typically molded into the side of the glovebox wall.
The cap of the damper is formed from two elastic O-rings. A first O-ring generally engages the periphery of the damper housing and passes through two grooves within periphery of the damper housing so that portions of the O-ring form a first pair of parallel chords within the circular cross section of the damper housing. A second O-ring is engaged by two opposed hooks on the mouth of the damper housing so as to form a second pair of parallel chords within the circular cross section of the damper housing. The second pair of parallel chords is oriented ninety degrees with respect to the first pair of parallel chords. The rectangular intersection of the two pairs of parallel chords formed by the O-rings supports the piston shaft of rectangular cross section. The resulting elastic configuration of the O-rings compensates for misalignment of the damper and allows the piston assembly to rotate during operation of the damper without binding. Additionally, this elastic configuration allows a user or installer to simply rotate the piston by 180xc2x0 within the damper housing in order to convert from a left-hand part to a right-hand part, and vice versa.